Loss of connective tissue integrity occurs in many disease processes, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, septic arthritis, osteopenias such as osteoporosis, tumor metastasis (invasion and growth), periodontitis, gingivitis, corneal ulceration, dermal ulceration, gastric ulceration, inflammation, asthma and other diseases related to connective tissue degradation. Although there is a high incidence of these diseases in the developed world, there is no treatment that prevents the tissue damage that occurs. Considerable lines of scientific evidence indicate that uncontrolled connective matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) activity is responsible for the damage, and as a consequence the inhibition of these enzymes has become the target for therapeutic intervention (see Matrisian, L. A, Bases, Vol. 14, pp 445-463 (1992); Emonard, H. et al., Cellular and molecular Biology, Vol. 36, pp 131-153 (1990); Docherty, A J. P. et al., Annals of the Rheumatic, Vol. 49, pp 469-479 (1990)).
Hydroxamic acid derivatives are a class of known therapeutically active MMPs inhibitors and there are numerous references in the art disclosing a variety of hydroxamic acid derivatives. For example, European Patent Publication 0,606,046 A1 discloses arylsulfonamido-substituted hydroxamic acids useful as matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors. International Publication Nos. WO 95/35275 and WO 95/35276 disclose sulfonamide hydroxamic acid and carboxylic acid derivatives useful as matrix metalloproteinases inhibitors. All these references relate to sulfonamide hydroxamic acids. The compounds of this invention are novel and distinct from all other sulfonamide hydroxamic acids in that the usual nitrogen atom is replaced by a carbon atom. The invention provides sulfonyl hydroxamic acid derivatives.
The compounds of the present invention inhibit various enzymes from the matrix metalloproteinase family, predominantly stromelysin and gelatinase, and hence are useful for the treatment of matrix metallo endoproteinase diseases such as osteoporosis, tumor metastasis (invasion and growth), periodontitis, gingivitis, corneal ulceration, dermal ulceration, gastric ulceration, inflammation, asthma, and other diseases related to connective tissue degradation.